Kim Soo Hyun Sleeps Only 1 Hour? The Reality of Drama Filming Schedules

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Actor Kim Soo Hyun is in the midst of filming for SBS drama “Man from the Stars.” A representative from his agency, Key East Entertainment, gave an update on his recent condition. Filming takes place Monday through Sunday, and Kim Soo Hyun gets very little sleep. The representative said, “He had a CF lined up as well, so he filmed the CF and then went right back to the drama set at night. It is practically impossible to leave the drama set. Kim Soo Hyun plays an alien who came to earth 400 years ago, so he has to film scenes from the Joseon dynasty as well, so he has a really tight schedule.”

And it’s not just Kim Soo Hyun. Cable network tvN drama “Emergency Man and Woman,” which premiered on January 24, has a punishing filming schedule. Pressed for time like most other dramas, the cast attended the production press conference on January 21 looking slightly disheveled. Director Kim Chul Kyu said, “Just coming out of filming one time means today becomes tomorrow. We don’t take breaks in the middle, just a trip to the sauna for a bit, and then it’s right back to filming.” Lee Pil Mo, who plays prickly emergency department chief Gook Cheon Soo, commented, “There’s no going home to sleep. A corner of the emergency room has become home, and after sitting on the sofa for a while, we go straight to filming. In typical dramas, usually I go to the salon before coming to the set, but our set is an emergency room, so there’s not really any need to look good. Instead of going to the salon, I just sleep.”

“Emergency Man and Woman” took over its Friday-Saturday timeslot from “Reply 1994,” which in its last two to three weeks was practically in live filming mode, the production putting the finishing touches to the drama. Go Ara commented after the drama ended, “My dark circles were down to my chin, and my eyes had lost focus. I was spaced out while filming.” Kim Sung Kyun said, “By the end of filming, everyone had become a zombie.” Yoo Yeon Seok revealed, “Beginning from the middle of December, I barely got an hour of sleep a day. The staff displayed superhuman powers.”

The term they use to refer to the sort of sleep actors are prone to get while on set is “jjok-jam,” which means catching a nap during breaks in filming, but a rather uncomfortable sort of sleep. Production costs are probably the biggest factor, as filming days equate to money flowing out. Top stars and writers put pressure on production costs, so production days need to be reduced in order to counter soaring production costs. One may recall “Man from the Stars” $940,000 luxury sets.

In the case of a 16 episode mini-series, usually a minimum of four episodes needs to be filmed before the drama goes to air, but that really depends on circumstances. The day that KBS 2TV drama “Age of Feeling” (or “Inspiring Generation”) premiered, the cast filmed scenes for part two that hadn’t been filmed beforehand due to their overseas filming schedule. When “Age of Feeling” held its production press conference, a cast member was quoted as saying, “I haven’t begun filming yet, so I am unable to comment about my acting.” Considering that a single 70-minute episode usually takes seven to eight days, filming two episodes in one week is almost a physically impossible task.

Cast members in leading roles have overlapping filming schedules, so they are on an even tighter schedule. Other cast members and staff have to be on standby for filming, and while the production might prefer a smaller cast, they are considered necessary for viewership ratings. Writers are also occasionally late with their scripts; it has become habit to continually edit the script to optimize ratings.

Despite the lack of sleep and last-minute script deliveries, the cast are able to keep going for the sake of ratings. Ratings bring along recognition, and recognition is directly associated with CF contracts. Actors Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon Seok and Kim Sung Kyun from “Reply 1994” scored roughly 10 CFs each after the drama ended. “Man from the Stars” Kim Soo Hyun had about 10 CFs, but thanks to ratings approaching nearly 30%, he has added on banking, pharmaceutical and automobile commercials to his growing resume. For some, this could be a sufficiently sweet reward for lost sleep.

Soompi

Comments

[babyonions.livejournal.com]

Poor alien oppa :(
When will he date???? I need a KSH dating scandal tbh

[torontok.livejournal.com]

seriously

[kaninasan.livejournal.com]

ugh this is so fucked

but how does he still look this good with only one hour sleep? damn

[undeadkennedy.livejournal.com]

i would become a monster on that little sleep

[torontok.livejournal.com]

This makes me wonder how many on set incidents (medical emergencies) have occured because theres no way the body can function like that on a consistent basis.

[kwangsoo.livejournal.com]

not to mention he already has a terrible history with bouts of illnesses caused by his heart. he had surgery before.

[post-dada.livejournal.com]

I just saw this new cf he filmed with angelababy. He probably filmed before the drama but still.
I hope the change in schedule for YWCFTS gives everyone involved a mini-break

[woohyun.livejournal.com]

omg no Alien Oppar 8(((

[hibaalhadid.livejournal.com]

poor baby, he needs to rest, but it's worth it, having all this success and all, BUT I wonder why won't they film the whole drama like all 16 or 20 episodes before airing it, or at least half of it

[vonnadarling.livejournal.com]

A lot of the times, dramas that film everything at once have issues finding a time slot to be broadcast and usually results in the drama being shelved. A lot of producers, directors, etc... don't want to take that risk. Get the slot first, film second.

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that is not healthy AT ALL. Humans need to sleep or there can be very damaging affects.

I guess it's money/fame/career vs sleep. It makes me wonder what the labor laws are for adults in SK.

[the-erotomanic.livejournal.com]

i can see why a top star like wonbin doesn't do dramas anymore. it's just shitty for everyone involved.

makes you wonder how someone like yoo jaesook who has a lot of shows (though never in a drama) manage his time and energy just to film and be on your top game all the time.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

but movies are not that different either, the only difference is that it doesn't have to air next week.

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

I just don't understand why they don't film half of it before airing. Imagine those actors who do 50 ep dramas. I know joo won was barely surviving his drama schedules of the last 2 years.

I can't function if i don't get atleast 7 hours sleep so god knows what happens on sets and what sort of stuff these guys are taking. And people bitch about actors having bad attitudes, if i was getting 1 hour sleep I'd probably be a huge ass

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

because the korean drama industry is flawed and depends too much of the viewers reactions and caters to their responses no matter what, often changing the story according to the viewers taste in order to gain/keep viewers.

and even when they film half of it before airing [like reply94 did and many other dramas], live shooting soon catches up, that if the response of a certain character requires changes and they start doing re-shoots way before to please viewers.

[1111-am.livejournal.com]

Damn. Well if all of those rumors of him being a bit of a douche backstage and stuff are true I can see why. I get ridiculously crabby when I go nights with only one hour of sleep too.

Also with all those scenes where he's knocked out cold/sleeping I'm surprised he didn't actually fall asleep. No wonder it took Song Yi so long to wake him up multiple times lol.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

i never heard said rumors, in fact i find it a bit odd, because he always keeps strong friendships with his cast and crew members.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

the live shooting system in korea is ridiculous, i first started watching taiwanese and japanese dramas and while t does exist in those countries, it does not go in the ridiculous lengths it is in sk, or the writers do everything viewers desires, rewriting their stories to the viewers taste.

i feel so bad for all the actors in the industry, but even mroe for the acting idols, who have double duty, especially the main actor ones.

[mercury-sound.livejournal.com]

Smh, it always sounds like bragging when the agencies talk about it and that's ridiculous. Do we know how the Korean viewers react when they hear this? I can't imagine anyone condoning these practices.

[ohlookshiny.livejournal.com]

i can't believe keyeast are still scheduling him cf's when he's supposed to be on a break from filming. not even his agency give a shit about his health :(

the whole system is so fucked up, how can they expect to make the best show they can when they don't even have time to sleep properly.

stop wasting money on fancy sets and overpaying ~hallyu stars~ and start paying your (exhausted) crew more, stick to your schedule and film more than half the show in advance. i think in most dramas you can tell when they start live filming bc the actors start looking exhausted, they insert a ton of flashbacks to fill airtime and the general quality just goes down.

i can't believe emergency couple is already practically live filming :( it's only been 4 episodes. the only reason why age of feeling started filming earlier is bc they have overseas shoots too. sigh

[ultraflyy23.livejournal.com]

Oh my word. I can only imagine how it is for idols who do dramas and also have to promote as part of a group (Yoona, Suzy etc...)

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

yes, yes
I always thiink of my poor bb Ryo, back in the days when he was in 2 groups + doing dramas, cf, photoshoot... those were difficult days

[hurtmybones.livejournal.com]

ugh the live shooting system is absolutely horrible. reminds me of all the photos of park shin hye from the set of heirs where she was sleeping any chance she got :(

[hyde-my-dreams.livejournal.com]

This is ridiculous. I was watching a cast interview just the other day about an American TV show that does a once-a-week broadcast, and they said that they filmed Monday to Friday, and had the weekends off! Then again they start filming nearly half a year in advance, so it's not like they have to film for each week one week in advance. (Which I will NEVER understand, by the way.)

I would never want to be a celebrity in South Korea.

[fraudandfantasy.livejournal.com]

I'm always amazed by the lack of drug related scandals. With these schedules there's no way a human body is functioning in that condition without some serious help from drugs. Or like caffeine to the vein. Which is why it's always scary when you can start seeing them fraying at the edges like how tired are you that the drugs aren't even working?

Not to say that there aren't inhuman people who can sleep 2 hours a day. Look fabulous. Get their work done flawlessly. And then go home to their beautiful lover in the off time. But those people won the genetic/life lottery and are the minority!

I guess it's worth it to all the actors/celebrities.

[stoppedclock321.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I wonder if it's a huge industry-wide secret or something, because by looking at how actors/idols/etc. work, I don't understand how they can do it without illegal pick-me-ups and all. The practice of even getting IVs seems to be really common but also not talked about a lot, so I feel like if people were resorting to other things (meds/drugs/what-have-you) it might receive the same treatment?

[gray-fairy.livejournal.com]

Omg, I already feel terribly sick and look like shit with 5-6 hours of sleep. How these actors and idols can take only 1-2 hours of sleep without having serious health problems?

[imienazwisko.livejournal.com]

I would recommend reading this article (http://www.hancinema.net/the-dark-side-of-korean-drama--part-1-36449.html) as well, it's pretty informative. as well.

Anyways, guys think also about technicans - they have to be on the set earlier, be on alert all the time... and no one cares of they are exhausted cause their faces aren't being recorded. If you half-ass your job, you're fired and easily replaced. Actors often don't really respect the crew's hard work and walks off the set. Like I don't get people defending Han YE Seul cause she wasn't the only person working in poor conditions and shown disrespect to tons of people who were working hard to provide her with a set to act in, character to play, costumes to wear, lighting to make her prettier etc etc. Just the crew can't pull off cast-sixed tantrums even thought they often have it harder and no one really remembers they even exist.

USA should be grateful for their Filmmakers Unions / Guilds / Associations.

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

More than just the duties of the crew and the actors and whoever else, from a creative/artistic angle, I remember julianna marguilies saying she doesnt understand actors who are rude to their crew because those are the people actor's are in front of when they're the most vulnerable. If you can't trust your crew, how can you perform and let go and act without inhibitions.

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

I just watched a series of those THR interviews with actors and actresses. New Girl cast said they have long, 12-13 hours but they stop at the 13th hour no matter what. That's long Compared to Modern Family's work hours, who often have to be on set once or twice a week. the good wife also has long hours. julianna marguilies finally told the crew to do some changes (like write her off from the many court room scenes where she doesnt even need to do anything but be in the background) so she can get rest and come to work well prepared in a better condition and perform her role better.

And wow, korea is even waaaay worse. The sad part is they all recognize there's a problem, but there's little effort to make changes.

[imienazwisko.livejournal.com]

USA has the best conditions for film cast and crew, and the system is working well. I wish they were Unions in my country as well, cause last time I worked two months in a movie, it was a mess. I don't think I would be able to make a living in this profession, it's too tiring. Actors still have it the easiest, trust me.

[zombiechick815.livejournal.com]

Whenever I hear about this I can't believe these actors willingly put up with this kind of schedule. More props to them for doing it, but I never could. I'm cranky if I get like, less than 5 hours of sleep. I couldn't imagine getting this little sleep day after day!

[curioustaiyo.livejournal.com]

Why is the Korean entertainment industry such a mess? You hear a lot of bad things about the industry in other places but it's always so much worse in Korea. Do they not have any sort of laws or unions or anything? And it's not only the stars but also all the staff and workers who aren't seen but are worked just as hard as them and paid dust by just about everyone!

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

The greater good. Korea has risen so high by long working hours for no pay, it's basically the worst type of competitive market. Labour laws would decrease profits and working hours, can't have that.

[wondergirlslove.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how that is possible? I definitely believe he gets very little sleep, but only 1 hour, (for probably months at a time?)

People get seriously ill or even land in the hospital being that active for 23 hours than only sleeping for 1 hour.

[stoppedclock321.livejournal.com]

When I hear things like KSH only sleeping for an hour or an idol sleeping for 2-3 hours, I like to think that (read: hope) they mean that's how long they sleep at a stretch at night, without counting the naps that they hopefully take during breaks/transportation/whatnot, because I actually do not understand the alternative (w/o drugs).